Beautiful South star Paul Heaton warns: The local pub will be extinct in 50 years

Paul Heaton predicts the local pub will be a thing of the past in 50 years

Pubs don’t make their big business mates rich so they get ignored

Paul Heaton

And the former Beautiful South singer has warned traditional alehouses could be extinct in 50 years.

The 50-year-old wants the Prime Minister and Chancellor to do more to save the British pub.

At the Kings Arms he runs in Salford, Lancs, he told the Daily Star Sunday: “They’re not coming in my pub. They’re barred.

“I was relieved the Government scrapped the beer duty escalator tax and reduced duty by 1p. It’s a relief for publicans and it’s a step in the right direction.

“But in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t mean anything if people can’t afford to come to the pub for a pint. And at the moment they can’t.

“I fear for the future of the pubs. The way it’s going, in 50 years time I can see people talking about going to the pub like something we used to do in the old days, like the way people talk about music halls or the wireless.”

He said part of the problem is that politicians do not care that pubs are closing because it does not affect them.

Figures from the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA) suggest 18 pubs a week are shutting across the country.

Paul said: “One of the most uncomfortable things politicians do on their rounds is go into a pub and get pictured drinking a pint. It looks alien to them. They’re not part of pub culture.

“They certainly don’t go down the pub and have a few pints with their mates like a large majority of this country does.

“Most of them went to private school and many went to Oxford and Cambridge.When they drink they stand at the bar being obnoxious, ordering wine or champagne. So when pubs are closing at an alarming rate they don’t care.”

The singer, who found fame when Happy Hour made the top three for his first band The Housemartins, said pubs should not be allowed to fold so easily.

He said: “It seems the Government wants Britain to be like America. They want coffee shops and big supermarkets on every corner rather than a pub that is actually good for a community.

“Pubs don’t make their big business mates rich so they get ignored.

“There has been a culture shift, which is sad.

“Instead of going to the pub to socialise and listen to music, they go to Tesco to buy cheap wine and beer and then sit in and drink it.

“I love pubs and they are a big part of our history and our culture. It makes me sad when a pub that has been there for decades or a century just closes.”

Paul has tried to revamp his boozer by staging live music and comedy.

He still records as a solo artist and has released three albums. He shuns big venues and tours the UK playing pubs.

But he has ruled out a reunion tour with either The Housemartins or The Beautiful South.

He said: “I’ve been asked loads of times. But I am not going to do it. I don’t have a high opinion of those bands that do it.

“It’s like if I asked someone who has been divorced to go back to their ex for a bit. They’d just tell me to f**k off. And that’s my response to those who want me to reunite the bands.”